Lewie Mullins St. Ignace It was deja vu for the St. Ignace Saints basketball team as Saints senior Lewie Mullins put back a rebound for a score at the buzzer, lifting the Saints to a 60-58 comefrom behind conference overtime win over Sault Ste. Marie Thursday, February 1.

This was the second consecutive Straits Area Conference (SAC) win at the buzzer for the Saints in six days. St. Ignace remains undefeated in the league at 6-0, with a twogame lead over Sault Ste. Marie. Remaining c o n f e r e n c e games for the Saints include games on the road against Newberry, Cheboygan, and Rudyard. Rogers City is the remaining conference foe that St. Ignace will host at home.

"We got a solid performance from everyone," said Saints Coach Doug Ingalls. "Each player stepped up at different times and that was a key to the come from behind win especially on the road."

The Saints lost Jake Weiss after the senior starter hurt his back early in the first quarter but, said Coach Ingalls, "We held together as a team after Jake went down and that was very important."

The Blue Devils led by 12 points with 5:30 left in regulation and held a five point lead at the 1:11 mark before James Peterson made a triple to cut the margin to 48-46 with 1:00 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Saints' Gerrit Mortensen made four consecutive free throws in the overtime win over Sault Ste. Marie. Dan Olsen converted a threepoint play with 55 seconds on the clock for a 49-48 advantage, which was the Saints first lead since early in the first quarter. Olsen added one free throw for a 50-48 margin.

Ryan Glaser, however, scored for the Blue Devils to send the game into overtime tied at 50.

Nick Montie scored to open the four-minute extra period before the Sault's Stu Chipman knocked down a three-pointer to give the home team a 53-52 edge.

Peterson scored off a rebound, followed by Gerrit Mortensen's four free throws, which established a 58-53 Saints lead with 1:00 left in overtime. The Blue Devils, however, answered back. Wyatt Curry scored a two-point basket and Todd Beaumont hit a three-point shot to notch the score at 58 with 28 seconds on the clock.

The Saints, with possession of the ball, let the clock wind down to 4.1 seconds before Coach Ingalls called a time-out to set up a lastsecond play.

Mullins became an instant hero when he made his 13th rebound of the night off of a missed shot by Olsen, and shot the ball and put it in at the buzzer to give the Saints a key road victory.

St. Ignace lead 5-2 early in the first eight minutes before Sault Ste. Marie took a 13-8 lead and increased the margin to 25-17 at halftime with a 12-9 score in the second quarter.

The Blue Devils held a 17-15 scoring edge in the third quarter for a 42-32 lead and extended the advantage to 12 before the Saints staged their strong comeback.

Saints Stats: Gerrit Mortensen, 15 points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals; Dan Olsen, 13 points, six assists, four rebounds; Lewie Mullins, 11 points, 13 rebounds; James Peterson, eight points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals; Nick Montie, four points, seven rebounds; Anthony Lester, four points, two steals, two assists; Jake Weiss, three points; Ben Matelski two points, two assists.

Blue Devils Stats: Todd Beaumont, 21 points; Stu Chipman, 10 points; Wyatt Curry and Ryan Glaser, eight points; Rob Guimond, six points; Ryan Bailey, three points; Adam Gilbostson, two points.

Saints Drop Game to Gaylord

St. Ignace fell to Gaylord 62-51 Tuesday, January 30, for its second defeat of the season.

The host Blue Devils led 14-11 after the first eight minutes and held a 28-23-halftime margin with a 14-12 scoring edge in the second quarter.

Gaylord outscored the Saints 20-15 in the third quarter to increase its lead to 48-38 and closed out the game with a 14-13 advantage in the final period.

Saints Stats: Jake Weiss, 14 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, James Peterson, 13 points, 10 rebounds; Dan Olsen and Gerrit Mortensen, nine points; Lewie Mullins, three points; Ben Matelski, two points; Nick Montie, one point.

The Saints will face Newberry Friday, February 9, in a road game and then will entertain Rogers City in the final home game Friday, February 16, which will also be courtwarming for St. Ignace.